Statewide Planning Goals

Since 1973, Oregon has maintained a strong statewide program for land use planning. The foundation of that program is a set of 19 Statewide Planning Goals.

The goals express the state's policies on land use and related topics, such as citizen involvement, housing, and natural resources.

Most of the goals are accompanied by guidelines, which are suggestions about how a goal may be applied. As noted in Goal 2, guidelines are not mandatory.

Oregon´s statewide goals are achieved through local comprehensive planning. State law requires each city and county to adopt a comprehensive plan and the zoning and land-division ordinances needed to put the plan into effect.

The local comprehensive plans must be consistent with the Statewide Planning Goals. Plans are reviewed for such consistency by the state´s Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC). When LCDC officially approves a local government´s plan, the plan is said to be acknowledged. It then becomes the controlling document for land use in the area covered by that plan.

Oregon´s planning laws apply not only to local governments but also to special districts and state agencies. The laws strongly emphasize coordination -- keeping plans and programs consistent with each other, with the goals, and with acknowledged local plans.